Posted on 11/09/2012 9:18:15 AM PST by lasereye
President Obama’s campaign organization is the greatest political machine in modern history.
How it was possible to take a moribund economy, high unemployment, and no detectable foreign policy and turn it into a sweeping electoral victory over a credible opponent is one of the great political stories of our time.
Plouffe, Messina, Axelrod. Political geniuses who wiped away forever the Clinton campaign axiom, “It’s the economy, stupid,” and replaced it with, “It’s the Community Organizing, Stupid.”
A few years ago, I was talking to a Democratic member of Congress who is close to Obama. She who told me of seeing him on the podium as Obama was trumpeting his victory in the 2008 Iowa Caucuses over Hillary Clinton, the win that propelled him to the Democratic nomination and, ultimately, the presidency.
“Nothing like a little community organizing,” Obama told her.
More than anything – more than changing demographics, Hurricane Sandy, the Romney campaign’s mistakes – or anything else – it was the Obama campaign’s relentless organization and prodding of its supporters and independents that made Obama’s success a reality.
The campaign collected peoples emails and addresses anyplace they could find them – from beauty salons to campaign rallies. They used them effectively, asking repeatedly through personalized messages for people’s money or their time.
I was signed up for the Obama campaign’s emails. They each began, “Keith.” I was signed up for the Romney campaign emails. They each began, “Friend.”
I’m not any campaign’s friend. I am Keith.
And on Election Day, Obama’s vast organization got everyone to the polls.
It is estimated that more black people, not fewer, voted in 2012 than 2008. More Latinos voted, not fewer, and an even greater percentage of them supported Obama this time. The youth vote did not decline from 2008. All this despite flagging enthusiasm for the president.
Here’s a telling anecdote related by a senior Obama aide to the press pool on Wednesday’s flight from Chicago back to Washington.
During flight, a campaign official talked about the ground game on background . . .In describing the ground game, the official told of a conversation he had with a top field director on Monday. The GOP had tweeted that they had knocked on 75,000 doors in Ohio the day prior. Not to worry, the director said, “we knocked on 376,000.”
Then the president came in, and this aide said, “Tell him the door thing.” So he did. And the president responded, “That’s my team.”
That was not Romney’s team. Romney’s team was back in Boston Tuesday night, watching in awe:
In Chicago, the campaign recruited a team of behavioral scientists to build an extraordinarily sophisticated database packed with names of millions of undecided voters and potential supporters. The ever-expanding list let the campaign find and register new voters who fit the demographic pattern of Obama backers and methodically track their views through thousands of telephone calls every night.
That allowed the Obama campaign not only to alter the very nature of the electorate, making it younger and less white, but also to create a portrait of shifting voter allegiances. The power of this operation stunned Mr. Romney’s aides on election night, as they saw voters they never even knew existed turn out in places like Osceola County, Fla. “It’s one thing to say you are going to do it; it’s another thing to actually get out there and do it,” said Brian Jones, a senior adviser.
Brian Jones and company didn’t do it. According to a fascinating piece by Sean Trende at RealClearPolitics, turnout, far more than the “changing demographics” everyone is talking about, was the key to Obama’s victory.
And who didn’t turn out? White people, who overwhelmingly backed Romney when they did make it to the polls. Republicans need to attract more minority voters. But if white voters don’t show up, they still won’t win.
According to Trende, about 6.7 million fewer whites voted on Election Day 2012 than in 2008. A critical statistic in a race Obama won by only about 3 million votes.
Part of the reason they stayed home, Trende says, might be that these voters didn’t like Obama but had fallen sway to the Obama campaign’s negative emphasis on Romney’s wealth, as well as Romney’s own failure to articulate a message.
But Obama’s base wasn’t particularly excited either. And they showed up.
There are two lessons for Republicans in this. The first is obvious: Run a better campaign.
But the second, which flows from the first, is less obvious. Some Republicans are already talking about the need to “moderate” the Republican message.
But campaign workers won’t spend 20 hours a day at the office working for nothing to elect someone without a clear philosophy they can wrap their arms around. And voters won’t turn out unless they can understand a candidate’s views and be enthusiastic about it.
Romney failed to aggressively embrace a philosophy of any sort. If he had run as a true conservative and explained relentlessly why conservative policies are needed, he might have attracted the right people to his organization and put them in a position to bring motivated voters to the polls.
Because, it’s the community organizing, stupid.
While America suffers, what’s Obammy doing?
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/11/09/obamas_asia_itinerary_revealed
Thursday, November 12: Alaska
President Obama departs Washington, DC and flies to Alaska, where he will speak to soldiers at Elmendorf Air Force Base. The schedule was changed to allow Obama to attend the memorial service at Fort Hood Texas on Tuesday. Leaving Alaska Thursday evening for Tokyo.
Friday, November 13: Tokyo
Obama arrives in Tokyo and holds a bilateral meeting with new prime minister Yukio Hatoyama at 7PM, followed by a joint press conference. He’ll be looking to build personal ties with the new leader, whose Democratic Party of Japan took power in a stunning August election. “This government is looking for a more equal relationship with the United States, we are prepared to move in that direction,” Bader said. Don’t expect any breakthroughs on the dispute over U.S. basing in Okinawa.
Saturday, November 14: Tokyo Day 2
Obama will give a speech at Suntory Hall at 10 AM, giving “his view of American engagement in Asia.” Then he will have an audience with the Japanese Emperor Akihito and his wife Empress Michiko. Leaving Saturday night for Singapore.
Sunday, November 15: Singapore
First, Obama will have a bilateral meeting with Singapore president Lee Hsien Loong, followed by the APEC summit leaders’ meeting. At 2PM, there will be a bilateral meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. Later in the afternoon, Obama will have a multilateral meeting with all 10 leaders of the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which will for the first time see American and Burmese leaders in the same room. “We’re not going to let the Burmese tail wag the ASEAN dog,” said Bader, saying that the previous policy of freezing out Burma has preventing U.S. interactions with ASEAN. Obama will also have a bilateral meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Leaving Sunday evening for Shanghai.
Monday, November 16: Shanghai
Obama will start the day meeting with Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng. After that, he will have a dialogue with Chinese youth and then will travel to Beijing to have dinner with Chinese president Hu Jintao. “We’ve have a smooth transition in the U.S.-China relationship... the relationship is off to a good start,” said Bader. Issues that will get the most attention are North Korea, Iran, climate change, human rights, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. “Clean energy is something where we expect to have some accomplishments to show,” Bader said.
Obama will not stop by the sight of the Shanghai Expo 2010 and no comment on whether Obama will visit his half-brother Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo, who lives there.
Tuesday, November 17: Beijing
There will be a morning bilateral meeting with Hu, followed by a joint press conference. Then, Obama will tour Beijing hot spot before his state dinner. Obama will raise various human rights issues directly with Hu, Bader said, including Tibet, and that message was not undercut by Obama’s decision not to meet with the Dalai Lama in Washington last month. “The president has made it clear that he is ready to meet with the Dalai Lama in the future at the appropriate time,” Bader said.
Wednesday, November 18: Beijing Day 2:
Obama meets with Chinese premier Wen Jiabao and do some more sightseeing. Also, “We do not expect that Beijing is going to produce a climate change agreement,” said Froman. That evening, Obama will leave for Seoul, South Korea.
Thursday, November 19: Seoul:
Obama will have a morning bilateral meeting with President Lee Myung-Bak, followed by a press conference. He will then visit U.S. troops in South Korea before heading back to the United States that evening. No real expectation on movement on the U.S-Korea Free Trade Agreement. “He has noted in the past that there are some outstanding issues... he is prepared to have that conversation with the Koreans,” said Froman.
Delusional . . .
exactly...you dont have to be super organized to buy votes....from the usual crowds who you bought votes from four years ago...they are hooked on others productivity and obama promised to lay claim to it....
so they voted for him
freebies over freedom.
lie, cheat , deceive, forge and do what is necessary to perpetrate the largest fraud on the American people ever!
The muslim now has a second term to complete his agenda of turning America into a turd world shitole.
Once you remove America from the global stage, security, peace, stability and success for all will disappear.
Rest assured, his islam will rush in to fill the void.
Yes, it was brilliant of the Obama campaign to...
“The nominee is Mitt Romney.”
Sheer brilliance! I really have to hand it to Barack.
I’ll witness to the truth of this article. We lived in Lancaster PA and somehow the BO machine thought our daughter was one of theirs. THREE TIMES they can knocking on our door for her. We didn’t get a peep from Romney campaign.
Premise was interesting; shame doofus, er, KEITH, dumped himself out of the gate...
We still don’t know what Mitt’s politics are, or why he invested so many years of his life and 55 million dollars to become president.
We do know that Mitt is a political disaster, in 20 years of running for office, and breaking spending records in every race, Mitt has a single victory to his name.
Mitt served a single term as Governor, destroyed the state party, was forced to give up his hope of reelection, and left office with 34% approval, and turning the office over to the democrats ever since.
Without even looking into his long political history, didn’t his losing to the unfunded Huckabee and the old man McCain reveal how weak he is?
Indeed.
LLS
Where are our power propaganda machines, our community organizers ... ?
Hello!
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